It seems Sony is sending out some mixed signals regarding PlayStation VR support on their next-gen console, the PlayStation 5. First of all, Sony has previously confirmed that PSVR accessories, including the camera and PS Move controllers, will still work on PS5. But PSVR cannot be paired up with the new PS5 camera. You will need an adapter to make the PS4 camera work with the PS5 (which you can request for free). Confusing enough? Well, it turns out that PS5 re-releases of PS4 games won’t support the headset anyway.
According to UploadVR, both the PS5 re-releases of Hitman III and No Man’s Sky will not support PSVR. A Sony spokesperson said that they “have not announced PS5 titles for PSVR” and you will need the PS4 version to play Hitman in VR mode. The same goes for the latter, where Hello Games said that No Man’s Sky is playable with PSVR on PS5 “by virtue of the backwards compatibility functionality”. Other VR developers haven’t confirmed whether their games are also playable only with backwards compatibility or not.
Right now that means using the backward compatibility functionality — buying/playing the PS4 versions on PS5 — will still let you play with the headset. But if you’re straight-up getting the PS5 upgrade, you will not be able to use the VR games on the next-gen console. Sony is providing free next-gen upgrades for most PS4 games, but “free downgrade” is said to be a developer-by-developer decision.
I guess this is one way for Sony to force people to adopt new hardware, albeit in a very strange form. After all, as reported by Bloomberg, Sony is planning to launch a “PSVR 2” sometime after the PS5 release. And the advancement on both console and VR headset technology might help PSVR as a platform in the long run. What do you think of this confusing issue? Share your thoughts in the comments below.